A handle attachment is known from German Auslegeschrift No. 25 01 404, which serves to secure a hollow handle with a spring which is anchored therein on a support bar which is secured on a dish. The conventional side handle which has two handle legs is held pressed by the spring against the dish, however, the spring must at the same time absorb lateral guide forces, which, since appropriate guide surfaces are lacking, makes such absorbing only very incomplete. Moreover, it is also not possible to arrange the support bars, which are secured on the dish, precisely at such a distance on the dish, such that these serve as lateral guideways for the handle. The reason here lies with the relatively large tolerances, which occur, on the one hand, during the manufacture of the attachment handle and, on the other hand, during the fastening of the support bar on the dish. Based on these fastening problems, such metal handles are fixedly connected to the dish prior to the enamelling process, which in particular brings about problems particularly when after the enamelling of certain areas of the pot are yet galvanized. Here exists the danger that acid penetrates into the hollow handle and after the galvanizing operation runs out of same again only in an incomplete manner, so that the acid residues, due to the long period of action, can result in damages.
In the case of handles which are manufactured of plastic, the problems of the lateral guiding of the handle on the support bars do not exist, since here suitable guide surfaces can be formed into the handle. Such handles show, however, the disadvantage that these are neither temperature resistant, nor permanently dishwasher safe.
The basic purpose of the invention is to provide a side-handle attachment for a handle of the above-mentioned type such that during a subsequent fastening of the handle, same is permanently clearance-free securable on the dish, that the handle attachment is simple in design, inexpensive to manufacture and easily attachable in the handle and to the dish. A further purpose of the invention consists in the support bar for the handle attachment being constructed such that same can be used both for the right and also for the left handle attachment.
This purpose is attained inventively by inserting into the hollow metal handle a one-piece constructed guide and spring element for receiving the support bar, which on the one side has guide surfaces for the support bar and from which on the other side project one or several leaflike springs, which cooperate with the locking recesses of the support bar.
According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the guide and spring element consists of a U-shaped profile, which is secured with its back wall to the inner wall of the hollow handle, wherein one or both springs legs are slotted over a portion of their length and wherein the free ends of the legs are formed V-shaped.
Hollow metal handles of the aforementioned type are formed advantageously of a sheet metal, whereby said sheet metal forms a joint on one side of the handle. On this one side, the U-shaped profile is welded on at its back wall, namely, such that the back wall grips or extends over the joint and during the welding, the two ends or edges of the sheet metal are fixed to one another. Such a welding is at any rate necessary, so that the mounting of the inventive guide and spring element does not require any additional operation. The form and the height of the support bar are thereby adjusted or proportioned in such a manner to the guide and spring element, that the forces, which act perpendicularly with respect to the wall of the dish onto the handle, are transmitted directly by the guide and spring element onto the support bar. The springs, which are integrated into the guide element and which are constructed V-shaped and cooperate in the moved-on condition with the locking recesses of the support bar, permanently and in a clearance-free manner press the handle against the wall of the dish, so that same during a normal load is fixedly connected to same. Through the form of the slope of the V-shaped spring, however, the handle, without that a damage to the dish or to the support bar occurs, can again be pulled off from the dish with an increased force, which permits an exchange of the handle.
The support bar has in the top view a substantially rectangular shape. According to an advantageous form of construction of the support bar, same is constructed symmetrically with respect to its two longitudinal sides, whereby the plane of symmetry extends through the center of the two short sides. The short side which is to be fastened on the pot is thereby constructed V-shaped, whereby the tip or apex of the V lies in the plane of symmetry. The angle defined by this V-shape is thereby adjusted or conformed to the dish wall, whereby advantageously the angle is adjusted to a medium dish wall, so that the support bar can be utilized both for the larger and also for the smaller dishes, without creating a troublesome inclination from the desired direction of the welded-on support bar on larger or smaller pots.